Twelfth Night | Shakespeare: Plays & Sonnets | Educator.com Shakespeare: Plays & Sonnets Test names are the registered trademarks of their respective owners. Said owners are not affiliated with Educator.com. Enter your Sign on user name and password. Username Shakespeare: Plays & Sonnets Twelfth Night II. Plays: Lecture 9 | 19:08 min Lecture Description In this lesson, our instructor Rebekah Hendershot teaches Twelfth Night. Youll go over the complete background of the play, the setting, and the characters. Rebekah explains each character in detail, including Viola, Sebastian, Orsino, Olivia, Malvolio, Maria, and everyone in between. Youll learn each element of the plot from the shipwreck to the happy ending. Themes, major passages, and essay topic jumping-off points are also discussed. With Rebekah youll discuss topics such as gender roles, the comical characters, and the idea of mistaken identity. The lesson concludes with a few secrets to make understanding Shakespeare a lot easier. Start learning today , and be successful in your academic & professional career. Start Today! Loading video... This is a quick preview of the lesson.

For full access, please Log In or Sign up . For more information, please see full course syllabus of Shakespeare: Plays & Sonnets Next Lecture Share this knowledge with your friends! Last reply by: Professor Hendershot Wed Jan 29, 2014 1:14 PM Post by veda chanda on January 18, 2014 Is Antonio ever released from prison? Twelfth Night First Things First This lesson will teach you how to read and understand a play by William Shakespeare, one of the greatest playwrights in the history of the English language (and the man who invented quite a lot of it). These videos are not a substitute for reading Shakespeare, listening to Shakespeare, or watching Shakespeare performed. Seriously. Don’t be that guy. Background Written for a Christmastime celebration Lots of cross-dressing and craziness Not published during Shakespeare’s lifetime (First Folio, 1623) A response to the “boy- plays”? Setting Eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea Ragusa? Croatia? Characters Viola / Cesario—A young noblewoman who assumes a male identity after being separated from her twin brother, Sebastian. Loves Orsino. Is loved by Olivia.

Sebastian—A young nobleman, twin brother of Viola. Friends with Antonio. Marries Olivia. Orsino—Duke of Illyria and pompous blowhard. Woos Olivia (unsuccessfully). Falls in love with “Cesario.” Olivia—A countess who refuses to marry on account of her brother’s recent death. Self-indulgent. Falls in love with “Cesario,” and later Sebastian. Malvolio—Olivia’s priggish servant. His coworkers make him believe Olivia is in love with him. Maria—Olivia’s clever maid. Plays pranks on Malvolio and eventually marries Olivia’s uncle. Antonio—A sea captain who rescues Sebastian and seems to be in love with him. Sir Toby Belch—Olivia’s drunken uncle. Marries Maria. Sir Andrew Aguecheek—Suitor to Olivia and friend to Sir Toby. Fatuous idiot. Feste—A jester. Probably the wisest character in the play.

Plot A page in the service of Orsino A visit to Olivia Viola delivers Orsino’s message Olivia falls in love with “Cesario” The gift of a ring A prank on Malvolio Viola and Orsino—can a woman love a man as much as a man can love a woman?

Olivia tries to woo “Cesario” Antonio and Sebastian appear in town Malvolio tries to woo Olivia Sir Andrew picks a fight with Viola Antonio rescues “Sebastian”, and is arrested Sebastian is challenged, courted, and married The clown mocks Malvolio The marriage and the beating are revealed The twins are reunited (after Viola messes with Sebastian’s head) Orsino falls for Viola The prank on Malvolio is revealed Everyone has a laugh and a song Themes Shape-shifting, disguise, and mistaken identity Love as a cause of pain Gender-bending “If music be the food of love, play on …” -Act I, Scene 1, 1-15 “Make me a willow cabin at your gate …” -Act I, Scene 5, 237-245 “…Make no compare Between that love a woman can bear me And that I owe Olivia.” -Act II, Scene 4, 91-101 “… Boy, thou hast said to me a thousand times Thou never shouldst love woman like to me.” -Act V, Scene 1, 258-266 Jumping-Off Points How does Shakespeare experiment with gender roles in

 this play?

How does he portray the intelligence, power, and faithfulness of men and women? Twelfth Night, the holiday for which the play is named, was a topsy-turvy time of cross-dressing and role reversal. How does this play out in the story? What role do the explicitly comical characters—Sir Toby, Sir Andrew, Feste, etc.—play in the story? Why did Shakespeare include them? Is Malvolio a comical character, a tragic figure, or both? Explain. By the end of Twelfth Night, everyone seems to have a happy ending—except Malvolio and Antonio. What effect does this have? Why do you think Shakespeare chose to write his ending this way? Compare Orsino and Olivia. How are their attitudes toward love the same? How are they different? Both seem to be in love with the idea of being in love more than with any particular person. What statement is Shakespeare making about romantic love? Shakespeare uses mistaken identity throughout the play, yet Sebastian and Viola are very different characters. How does their physical similarity highlight their personal differences? The Secret of Understanding Shakespeare Watch it performed (or on film if you can’t get to a theatrical production).

All of Shakespeare makes more sense when it’s spoken by actors who have lived his words and know, bone-deep, what he’s talking about. Never underestimate the power of performance. Remember that this is how Shakespeare meant his work to be seen … Twelfth Night Lecture Slides are screen-captured images of important points in the lecture. Students can download and print out these lecture slide images to do practice problems as well as take notes while watching the lecture. Download All Slides Olivia tries to woo Cesario Antonio and Sebastian appear in town Malvolio tries to woo Olivia Sir Andrew picks fight with Viola Antonio rescues Sebastian, is arrested Sebastian is challenges, courted, married The clown mocks Malvolio Prank on Malvolio is revealed Laughing and singing Act I, scene 1, 1-15 Act I, scene 5, 237-245 Act II, scene 4, 91-101 Act V, scene 1, 258-266 Jumping-off Points 16:28 Introduction to Shakespeare's Malvolio from Twelfth Night On Malvolio From Wit, Humor and Shakespeare. John Weiss.

The humor in the play of Twelfth Night resides in the contriving to make one vice ridiculous by other vices which are also absurd. Not one of the comic characters, taken separately, provides the peculiar element of humor. It transpires during the impartial interplay of the silliness of Aguecheek, the drunken techiness of Sir Toby, the spite of Fabian, the mischievousness of Maria, and the immeasurable conceit of Malvolio, who appeared not like a human being, but "as if he were his own statue erected by national subscription." All these vices betray themselves with such an infantile simplicity, and help each other to construct so delightful a plot, that we feel, with the clown, perfectly content to see "foolery walk about the orb like the sun." It is so difficult to discriminate between follies when they protect themselves by being so amusing, that we say with Viola, -- "I hate ingratitude more in a man, Than lying, vainness, babbling, drunkenness, Or any taint of vice, whose strong corruption Inhabits our frail blood." We always have, as she did, some vice which we hate worse than others.

The one that is damned is generally the only one which would put us to discomfort to practise. But humor can make for a time only those vices companionable which turn a man into his own worst enemy and raise no tragic threat against the State. Malvolio, the steward of Olivia's household, is prized by that lady for his grave and punctilious disposition. He discharges his office carefully and in a tone of some superiority, for his mind is above his estate. At some time in his life he has read cultivated books, knows the theory of Pythagoras concerning the transmigration of the soul, but thinks more nobly of the soul and no way approves that opinion. His gentility, though a little rusted and obsolete, is like a Sunday suit which nobody thinks of rallying. He wears it well, and his mistress cannot afford to treat him exactly as a servant; in fact, she has occasionally dropped good-natured phrases which he has interpreted into a special partiality: for Quixotic conceits can riot about inside of his stiff demeanor. This proneness to fantasy increases the touchiness of a man of reserve. He can never take a joke, and his climate is too inclement to shelter humor.

Souls must be at blood-heat, and brains must expand with it like a blossom, before humor will fructify. He wonders how Olivia can tolerate the clown. "I protest," he says, "I take these wise men, that crow so at these set kind of fools, to be no better than the fools' zanies." Olivia hits the difficulty when she replies, "Oh, you are sick of self-love, and taste with a distempered appetite." Perhaps he thinks nobly of the soul because he so profoundly respects his own, and carries it upon stilts over the heads of the servants and Sir Toby and Sir Andrew. Imagine this saturnine and self-involved man obliged to consort daily with Sir Toby, who brings his hand to the buttery-bar before breakfast, and who hates going to bed "as an unfilled can," unless no more drink is forthcoming; an irascible fellow, too, and all the more tindery because continually dry. He has Sir Andrew Aguecheek for a boon companion, who says of himself that sometimes he has no more wit than a Christian, or than an ordinary man.

When he is not in liquor he is fuddled with inanity, and chirps and skips about, deluding himself with the notion that Olivia will receive his addresses. Sir Toby, to borrow money of him, fosters the notion, and flatters his poor tricks. Then there is that picador of a clown, who plants in Malvolio's thin skin a perfect quickset of barbed quips, and sends him lowering around the mansion which these roisterers have turned into a tavern. The other servant, Fabian, has a grudge against him for interfering with a bear-baiting he was interested in; for Malvolio was one of those Puritans who frowned upon that sport, as Macaulay said, not because it worried the bear but because it amused the men. The steward was right when he informed this precious set that they were idle, shallow things, and he was not of their element. No doubt he is the best man of the lot.

But he interrupts their carousing at midnight in such a sour and lofty way that we are entertained to hear their drunken chaffing, and we call to Maria for another stoup, though they have had too much already; but a fresh exposition of dryness always sets in when such a virtue as Malvolio's tries to wither us. However, he becomes the object of their animosity, and they work in his distemper to make him ridiculous. There is no humor in seeing Malvolio fall so easily a prey to their device. When a man becomes the cause of his own mortification, it is simply comic. But the intrigue becomes humorous when his vice shows disgust at theirs, and theirs becomes indignant at his, and they are delighted to see it well ventilated. For so do we revenge ourselves upon each other, using not our strength which would be tragic, but our weaknesses. Then impartial justice is obliged to smile to see these counterplots of folly further its great plan. What economy it is to have individuals so contrived that they can baffle, mortify, and school each other without importing the constable! We are self-acting arrangements to relieve the universe from tax and keep its hilarity replenished.

In this genial manner " the whirligig of time brings in his revenges." Even if we do not lie in wait for each other, the knowledge of mutual frailties gives our whole life a sub-taste of humor; and that leaves respect upon the tongue. Sebastian says to the clown: "I prithee vent thy folly somewhere else." Mankind makes the clown's answer: "Vent my folly! He has heard that word of some great man, and now applies it to a fool. Vent my folly! I am afraid this great lubberly world will prove a cockney." No fear of that, my "corrupter of words;" so long as perfect discretion is unknown upon the earth, we are all cosmopolites of infirmity and speak the great language of smiles. But the play does not let Malvolio drop softly on his feet. There is a faint grudge provoked by the ill-tempered quality of his conceit, and Shakespeare indicates this trait of our nature.

The clown, who remembers how the steward used to twit Olivia's contentment at his sallies, and to deprecate it in a lofty way, now mimics his phrases and manner to sting him with a last fluttering dart. Malvolio's pride is already too deeply wounded, for he has indeed been "notoriously abused." There is no relenting in such a man on account of the fun, for that is a crime in the eyes of a Puritan, to be punished for God's sake. His temper acquires sombreness from his belief that total depravity is a good doctrine if you can only live up to it. But when this crime of fun is perpetrated against the anointed self-esteem of the Puritan himself, it is plain he will be revenged on the whole pack of them unless they proceed to make a sop of deference to touch his hurt with, and a pipe out of his own egotism for sounding a truce. Shakespeare delighted to mark the transition of a virtue to a vice; that elusive moment, as of a point of passage from one species to another, discovered and put into a flash from the light of humor.

Malvolio's grave and self-respecting temperament is an excellence. No decent man thinks meanly of himself, and the indecent ones cannot afford the disparagement. The pretence of it is a warning to us to expect mischief, a notice put up, "This is a private way; dangerous passing." Whatever gift a man has becomes a divine permission for self-consideration. Modesty is the humanity of a great mind, a vapor which the sun instinctively gathers to make itself tolerable. How to cite this article: Weiss, John. Wit, Humor and Shakespeare. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1889. Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2012. < >. Twelfth Night, or What You Will | Shakespeare and the Players June 19, 2015 Twelfth Night, or What You Will This black and white image shows a man standing to the left with a large white ruff around his neck and a black hat on his head. He is looking at the viewer with a look of intrigue or disdain. For still we prove much in our vows, but little in our love.

(2.4) Twelfth Night—an allusion to the night of festivity preceding the Christian celebration of the Epiphany—combines love, confusion, mistaken identities, and joyful discovery. After the twins Sebastian and Viola survive a shipwreck, neither knows that the other is alive. Viola goes into service with Count Orsino of Illyria, disguised as a young man, “Cesario.” Orsino sends Cesario to woo the Lady Olivia on his behalf, but Olivia falls in love with Cesario. Viola, in the meantime, has fallen in love with Orsino. At the estate of Lady Olivia, Sir Toby Belch , Olivia’s kinsman, has brought in Sir Andrew Aguecheek to be her suitor. A confrontation between Olivia’s steward, Malvolio , and the partying Toby and his cohort leads to a revenge plot against Malvolio. Malvolio is tricked into making a fool of himself, and he is locked in a dungeon as a lunatic. In the meantime, Sebastian has been rescued by a sea captain, Antonio .

When Viola, as Cesario, is challenged to a duel, Antonio mistakes her for Sebastian, comes to her aid, and is arrested. Olivia, meanwhile, mistakes Sebastian for Cesario and declares her love. When, finally, Sebastian and Viola appear together, the puzzles around the mistaken identities are solved: Cesario is revealed as Viola, Orsino asks for Viola’s hand, Sebastian will wed Olivia, and Viola will marry Count Orsino. Malvolio, blaming Olivia and others for his humiliation, vows revenge (reproduced with permission from Folger ). Postcards of Twelfth Night: Productions of Twelfth Night: 1904 On February 8, Viola Allen starred in a two-week run of Charles Frohman’s production of Twelfth Night at the Knickerbocker Theatre. On February 22 a new cast with Ben Greet’s company began another two-week run. In this second production Ben Greet played Malvolio and Edith Wynn Matthison played Viola. 1909 The London Shakespeare Festival presented by Herbert Beerbohm Tree’s ensemble, began June 21 at His Majesty’s Theatre, London.

The festival ran for two weeks with The Merry Wives of Windsor, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Richard III, The Merchant of Venice, and Macbeth (Loney, I: 50). Gerald Laurence and Fay Davis open their Shakespeare season on April 12 at the Royal Court Theatre, London. The plays included As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, and Twelfth Night (Loney, I: 49). The London Shakespeare Festival presented by Herbert Beerbohm Tree’s ensemble, began June 21 at His Majesty’s Theatre, London. The festival ran for two weeks with The Merry Wives of Windsor, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Richard III, The Merchant of Venice, and Macbeth (Loney, I: 50). 1910 The New Theatre Company opened for its first time on January 26 with Twelfth Night, starring Annie Russell, Louis Calvert, and Matheson Lang (Loney, I: 53). Starting on February 7, E. H. Sothern and Julia Marlowe play for six weeks at the Academy of Music, New York City.

Included in the repertory are Hamlet, As You Like It, The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, and Twelfth Night (Loney, I: 53). Beginning on March 28, several companies presented a London Shakespeare Festival at His Majesty’s Theatre. Herbert Beerbohm Tree’s company played The Merry Wives of Windsor, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night, and Hamlet. Norman Mckinnel presented King Lear and The Merchant of Venice; Arthur Bourchier and his company came next with The Merchant of Venice. H. B. Irving played Hamlet, and Frank Benson’s “Bensonians” followed with the Taming of the Shrew and Coriolanus. Poel’s Elizabethan Stage Society gave a performance—in the “original” sixteenth-century style—of The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Lewis Waller revived his Henry V, and Tree returned to close the Festival with The Merchant of Venice and Richard II (Loney, I: 54).

At the first Stratford-upon-Avon Summer Shakespeare Festival, Benson presented The Winter’s Tale, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Henry V, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Richard II, Hamlet, and The Merry Wives of Windsor (Loney, I: 54). 1911 On April 17, the annual Stratford Shakespeare Festival opened with The Merry Wives of Windsor. This year Frank Benson also offered The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, Henry V, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Richard III (Loney, I: 158). The London Shakespeare Festival opened on May 22 at His Majesty’s Theatre with Herbert Beerbohm Tree’s Julius Caesar, followed by Oscar Asche and Lily Brayton’s As You Like It. Next came The Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night. Frank Benson presented The Taming of the Shrew,Tree revived his Henry VIII, and the Festival closed with Benson’s Richard III and on July 3, the final night, The Merry Wives of Windsor (Loney, I: 158). E. H.

Sothern and Julia Marlowe opened their season at the Broadway Theatre, New York City. In the repertory were Macbeth, The Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice,Romeo and Juliet, and Twelfth Night. They returned on November 20 and added As You Like It to the list (Loney, I: 158). 1912 On April 9, Herbert Beerbohm Tree opened his season of Shakespeare at His Majesty’s Theatre, London, with Othello; his company also performedThe Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, and Henry VIII (Loney, I: 63). The annual Stratford-upon-Avon Shakespeare Festival opened this year on April 22 with The Merchant of Venice; Frank Benson’s company also performed Henry V, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Coriolanus, The Taming of the Shrew, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night, and Richard III (Loney, I: 63). 1913 The first season of the Birmingham Repertory Company opened with Barry Jackson’s production of Twelfth Night (Loney, I: 68).

In the month of June Herbert Beerbohm Tree staged a revival of The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar, and Romeo and Juliet; Tree played Shylock, Malvolio, Marc Antony, and Mercutio (Loney, I: 68). Frank Benson’s summer season of Shakespeare’s plays opened on August 2 with The Merchant of Venice; other plays performed that season were As You Like It, Hamlet, King John,Richard II, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night, and Henry IV, Part 2 (Loney, I: 68). 1914 On March 16, at the Hudson Theatre, New York City, Margaret Anglin began a run of Shakespeare plays; she directed and played in As You Like It, Twelfth Night, and The Taming of the Shrew (Loney, I: 72).

Another annual Stratford Shakespeare Festival opened with A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Frank Benson’s company was still on tour in the United States, so Patrick Kirwan directed this year’s offerings: Much Ado About Nothing, The Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, As You Like It, and The Merchant of Venice (Loney, I: 72). Frank Benson returned from the United States to direct the Stratford Summer Festival. He opened the four-week festval with Much Ado About Nothing. The company also presented Hamlet, Richard II, Henry IV, Part 2, Henry V, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, The Taming of the Shrew, and Romeo and Juliet (Loney, I: 73). On October 5, the Old Vic Theatre, London, under the management of Lilian Baylis, mounted a production of The Taming of the Shrew.

Additionally, the following plays were performed for the first time in 1914 at the Old Vic: Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice, The Tempest, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Baylis will by 1923 have produced the entire Shakespeare canon of thirty-seven plays (Loney, I: 73). Project MUSE - Twelfth Night (review) Adrienne L. Eastwood Twelfth Night. Presented by the Santa Clara Department of Theatre and Dance, at the Louis B. Mayer Theatre, Santa Clara, California, May 29–31, June 3–6, 2009. Directed by Fred Tollini. Set by Jerald Enos and Devin Bertsch. Costumes by Barbara Murray. Lighting by Joseph Brennan. Sound Design by [End Page 180] Michael Taylor.

With Michael Bates (Count Orsino), Kandace Audra Arens (Valentina), Dani Lencioni (Viola), Derek Verissimo (Sir Toby Belch), Kaitlin Dahill (Maria), Thomas Jose Johnson (Sir Andrew Aguecheek), Jeffrey Adams (Feste), Francesca McKenzie (Countess Olivia), Michael Heriford (Malvolio), Dylan Della Maggoria (Antonio), Cameron Carbone (Sebastian), Peter Dzuiba (Fabian), and others. The double plots in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night make it a play that is sometimes difficult to balance. Modern productions of Shakespeare’s comedy often emphasize the love plot, the way the play sets out to resolve the mess of misplaced desire brought on by Viola’s decision to disguise herself as the eunuch Cesario, slightly more than the elaborate (and borderline-cruel) prank played on the upstart steward Malvolio. Perhaps this is because of the difficulty translating the more topical comedy of the Malvolio plot, which turns on the festive characters’ vindictive humiliation of the proud and Puritanical servant, for modern audiences.

Director Fred Tollini was not deterred by such challenges, and the resulting production by Santa Clara University’s Department of Theatre and Dance beautifully brought out the comic aspects of the festive plotline, updating the humor for the present day. Tollini, aided by several talented actors, deftly accessed the festive comedy of the play by paying close attention to character interaction and timing. The bombastic Sir Toby Belch, dressed in a Scottish kilt that emphasized his paunch, was well rendered by Derek Verissimo, but it was Sir Toby’s interaction with Sir Andrew Aguecheek that carried each scene. Thomas Jose Johnson’s Sir Andrew hilariously brought Shakespeare’s exquisitely oblivious character to life. Sir Toby’s constant insults, delivered good-naturedly, slipped delightfully past Sir Andrew’s notice, and the addition of an outlandish Spanish accent (which Johnson delivered flawlessly) and costume contributed well to the overall effect of his astonishing naiveté. Perhaps the best performance among the festive characters was delivered by Michael Heriford, whose Malvolio marvelously oozed superiority and self-satisfaction in the early scenes, and then fumed with rancor in act five.

Unfortunately, the strengths of the festive plot enhanced the weaknesses of the love plot, and both elements of Shakespeare’s play were undermined by a flawed production concept. Apparently wishing to contrast the mirthful aspects of the play with its darker elements, Tollini chose to set the play at the height of the Roaring Twenties, just prior to [End Page 181] the stock market crash that brought the self-indulgence of that age to an end. Conceptually this is an intriguing and resonant idea, especially given our current economic woes. What seems to have evaded notice is the fact that the historical flappers had no idea that their revels would soon be ended—their joy would have been unchecked by despair. In Shakespeare’s play, this contrast is built in: the darkness of two sisters’ grief combined with Malvolio shadows the mirthful overindulgence of some characters and the chaotic erotic desires that run amok among the rest.

The festivity of the play works to dispel this grief, but with limited success, since the happy resolution Shakespeare provides in act five is disturbed by Malvolio’s curse: “I’ll be revenged on the whole pack of you!” Simply setting the play in the late 1920s, “three months prior to twelfth night” as the playbill indicated, does not seem to be enough to point to the contrast between mirth and despair that is apparent in retrospect. In Tollini’s production, Illyria was a swanky hotel, the sort of place that caters to an elite clientele. The set was gorgeous: an art deco design featuring elevators at stage right and left through which actors entered and exited, and two enormous columns upstage on either side. The shipwreck was rendered in silhouette on a screen at the back of the stage. In keeping with the play’s musicality, there was also a piano, which actors played (or in some cases pretended to play) beautifully.

Jeffrey Adams’s Feste had a lovely singing voice, and he capably crooned popular songs from the ’20s like “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” and “It Had to be You.” Most of the scenes took place in the hotel lobby or on different floors of the hotel, and panels decorated with vines served to represent the garden for the outdoor scenes. While the set design was brilliant, the idea to set the play in a hotel seems problematic. Shakespeare does much to emphasize social degree in this play, making Sir Toby bristle about Malvolio’s assumption of social privilege above his station and balancing Orsino’s court with Olivia’s estate. Shakespeare makes the two characters appear essentially equal in social power: both command servants and preside over their separate realms—only Feste and Cesario consistently appear in both locales. Indeed, Olivia’s enjoyment of her agency without a living male relative might well explain her initial reluctance to submit to marriage. But in a hotel, this important difference is diminished since all of the guests are waited on by the hotel staff, and the distinctions of social degree are less apparent.

While the production concept was slightly awkward, the main flaw of the performance came from the absence of erotic energy among the various [End Page 182] characters involved in the love plot. Dani Lencioni (Viola/Cesario), although clearly a capable actress, did not interact effectively either with Michael Bates, who played Orsino, or with Francesca McKenzie’s Olivia. When, at the end of 1.4, Viola as Cesario announced that she would herself like to wed Orsino rather than woo in his stead, the audience had some reason to be surprised, since there was nothing in their previous exchange to suggest sexual tension between the two. Shakespeare is possibly at his comic best in this play in 1.5 when Olivia and Cesario meet for the first time and Olivia falls in love as quickly, we are told, as “one catches the plague.” Here, the playwright seems to revel in the homoerotic possibility the scene unleashes, suggesting that perhaps one of the reasons Olivia falls for Cesario is that “he” is really a “she.” However the staging of these scenes with Olivia, and the equally charged scenes between “Cesario” and Orsino, was perplexing.

The actors delivered their lines as if there were force-fields around them which prohibited them from getting close to one another or touching. There always seemed to be several feet between them, or more frequently, they talked across a table in the hotel lobby or addressed each other from across the stage. Even when, in one scene, Viola as Cesario caressed Orsino, it happened while he was asleep, and he was therefore unable to respond. The stiffness of the performances in the love plot stemmed, it seemed to me, from a general discomfort with the homoerotic aspects of the play. In two very telling instances, one at the beginning of the play and one at the end, Tollini altered the text seemingly to avoid any non-traditional sexual references. In Shakespeare’s play, after the shipwreck in act one, Viola decides to disguise herself as a “eunuch”; the playwright prolongs this joke by having her choose to go by “Cesario,” a probable reference to the Latin verb caedere (to cut) from which “Caesarian” derives. But the eunuch is a sexually uncertain figure, representing (as homosexuality does) the possibility for various sexual experiences without the consequence of impregnation.

Tollini omitted this detail, having Viola simply pledge to become a “boy,” thus defusing any of these more radical implications. Similarly, in what I considered to be the most vexing textual modification, Tollini has another female character loan Viola a dress in act five when Orsino asks to see her in her “women’s weeds.” In the text, Viola cannot don her feminine apparel because Malvolio has detained the ship’s captain who was left in charge of them. This is an important detail because it allows the play to end without perfect comic closure—suggesting that the homoerotic impulses that have raged throughout the play are not [End Page 183] quite put to rest by the unmasking.

To emphasize Shakespeare’s apparent interest in having his play end with what effectively should appear to be two men embracing, Orsino’s last lines are addressed not to Viola, but to Cesario: “Cesario, come— / for so you shall be while you are a man; / But when in other habits you are seen, / Orsino’s mistress, and his fancy’s queen.” Bafflingly, Tollini left these lines in, having Orsino deliver them to an uncomfortable looking Viola in a borrowed gown. Click for larger view View full resolution Olivia (Francesca McKenzie) and Cesario’s (Dani Lencioni) first meeting in the Santa Clara Department of Theatre and Dance’s 2009 production of Twelfth Night, directed by Fred Tollini. Photo by Joanne Martin. It seemed to me that Tollini’s directorial decisions consistently undermined the homoerotic content of this particularly homoerotic comedy. Even Antonio, the play’s most overtly homosexual character, was played a bit awkwardly by Dylan Della Maggiora. He exaggerated the part of the unrequited lover, pawing at an unwilling and uncomfortable Sebastian.

This too seems to point to a misreading of the homoerotic subtext present in the play. Shakespeare exploits the comedy of misplaced desire and the intensity with which it manifests. He also tends to suggest that homoerotic desire is constantly present, and that, occasionally, it can disrupt “proper” heterosexual unions. From this perspective, the homoerotic [End Page 184] energy in the play functions like Malvolio’s rage: it disrupts (however slightly) comic closure. To ignore this aspect of the play reduces the text unjustly and deprives the audience of the full extent of Shakespeare’s vision. Adrienne L. Eastwood Twelfth Night Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia 01:20 Globe On Screen Twelfth Night clip-0 Twelfth Night is one of Shakespeare's comedies about an unusual love triangle. This play takes place in the fictional land of Illyria and begins with Duke Orsino proclaiming his love for the countess, Olivia, who refuses his advances, and the advances of all men, until her seven-year mourning for her dead brother is finished.

Meanwhile, one of the main characters, Viola, is cast ashore to Illyria after she gets in a shipwreck. Believing her twin brother, Sebastian, to be dead, Viola decides to dress as a man and work for Duke Orsino under the alias, "Cesario." She soon gains favor with the duke and he asks her to woo Olivia in his place, and Viola reluctantly agrees as she has fallen in love with Duke Orsino. To make matters more complicated, Olivia falls in love with "Cesario" when he/she brings Olivia the Duke's message of his love. The subplot of this play is a trick that Olivia's uncle, Sir Toby, and her servants play on Olivia's steward Malvolio, who is an ambitious and intolerable man. They write a love letter to Malvolio claiming to be from Olivia, asking him to wear foolish clothes and act strangely in order to win her affections. Malvolio follows these instructions perfectly, acting so ridiculous that Olivia believes him to be mad, so the conspirators of this joke continue to treat him as a mad man.

Back to the main plot of Twelfth Night, Sebastian has in fact survived the shipwreck, with the help of a sea captain named Antonio, and together they travel to Illyria. Confusion abounds as Viola and Sebastian are continually mistaken for each other, with the result of Sebastian marrying Olivia and the duke believing that Viola has betrayed him. This confusion is soon resolved when Viola and Sebastian reunite and "Cesario" reveals that she's actually a woman. Viola and Duke Orsino get married at the end of the play, the trick on Malvolio is revealed, and everyone lives happily ever after. Still a Good Comedy Edit Even though Twelfth Night was written over 400 years ago, many of its comedic aspects are still funny today. In fact, many of our modern movies have the same premise as Twelfth Night does, with a man dressing as a woman or a woman dressing as a man to accomplish some goal. These movies include Mrs. Doubtfire, White Chicks, Mulan, and even She's The Man, which is a modernized version of Twelfth Night.

The comedic situations in She's The Man are very similar to the situations that arise in Twelfth Night, so despite the fact that it's been modernized, She's The Man is a great adaptation of Shakespeare's play. Like Twelfth Night, She's The Man is about a girl, Viola, who dresses as a man at Illyria. While it's not clear why Viola in the play dresses as a man (though it's assumed that she does so for a job with Orsino and her own independence), it's perfectly clear why Viola does this in the modernized movie: to prove that girls are just as good at soccer as boys are. When her girl's soccer team is cut from her school, Viola goes to Illyria, a competing school, impersonating her brother Sebastian, so she can get on the boy's soccer team and beat her formal schoolmates.

Just like in Twelfth Night, Viola in She's The Man gets herself into awkward situations because she's dressed as a man, like not fitting in with the other guys in Illyria because "he" is weird, having Olivia fall in love with her because "he's the sensitive type" and falling in love with her roommate, Duke, because she gets to know him in an intimate way as Sebastian. The tagline of She's The Man shows the same complex, and hilarious, relationships that are found in the play it's based off of: "Everybody has a secret... Duke wants Olivia who likes Sebastian who is really Viola whose brother is dating Monique so she hates Olivia who's with Duke to make Sebastian jealous who is really Viola who's crushing on Duke who thinks she's a guy..." [1] . She's The Man stays true to many of the aspects of the original play, and its modernization makes sure that the audience understands the comedy that's found in Twelfth Night. All of the hilarious situations that happen because someone is pretending to be the opposite sex is just as funny today as it was in Shakespeare's time.

So don't be intimidated by the fact that Twelfth Night is an Elizabethan play, because it has aged well and can still be enjoyed today. Edit Besides still being a good comedy, some of the themes of Twelfth Night are still relevant today, particularly the theme that woman have to appear as men to find success in the world. The only reason that Viola gained so much success with Duke Orsino was because she was pretending to be Cesario and she wouldn't have even gotten her position in the first place if it was known that she was a woman. Although progress towards gender equality has increased much in the last couple of decades, sexism is still prevalent in our society today. Sexism is still a problem in our country today. Women still earn less than men do, getting paid, "77 cents on the dollar for every dollar a man makes, according to a recent study from the Institute for Women's Policy Research. That's a difference of more than $10,000 per year on average." Women also have to work harder than men to get paid more, on average have lower paying jobs, and have to face stereotypes at work.

Such stereotypes include: "They don't need more money because they're not the primary breadwinners, they can't do certain jobs that are considered 'men's work,' their supposed to act a certain type of feminine in the workplace, they're not committed to their jobs because their the primary caregivers to their kids." [2] Sexism is not only found in the workplace, but in day to day life as well. BuzzFeed has collected 19 Examples of Everyday Sexism on their site. These examples include, "Medical student, told by a professor that I would cause my future husband 'serious headaches' as I ask too many questions," "Being told, 'I should have been born a man' because I understand and like technology," and, "Whenever my husband and I cash checks at our bank, the male tellers always make a big show of handing ME the money and saying things like, 'We'll just save you the trouble..' to my husband."[ ] The premise of She's the Man, the modernized movie of Twelfth Night also shows the sexist stereotypes women today have to overcome.

In this movie, Viola dresses as her brother Sebastian to prove to her former coach and ex-boyfriend that she's just as good of a soccer player as the boys. When the girl's soccer team gets cut at her school, she pretends to be her brother at the school Illyria Academy while he's away in London. As Sebastian, Viola tries out for the soccer team and, despite many obstacles, she makes the team and proves to everyone that gender doesn't matter when it comes to sports. She's The Man shows that sexist beliefs still cause problems for women today and that they sometimes have to take drastic actions to expel those myths. Another relevant theme which Twelfth Night explores is, of course, love. Like many other stories, both past and present, Twelfth Night asks the questions humans have been asking themselves since the beginning: "What is love?" "How should I love?" and "Who should I love?" These questions are asked an answered through Duke Orsinio's, Viola's, and Olivia's love triangle in the play. At the beginning of the play, Orsino has fallen "in love" with Olivia but it's clear from the beginning that it is a very shallow sort of love.

Orsino says that "O, when mine eyes did see Olivia first,/Methought she purged the air of pestilence!" (1.1.20-21) and this description of his feeling shows that Orsino is merely infatuated with Olivia because of her pretty face and, perhaps, her high social status. Olivia points out to Viola/Cesario the shallowness of Orsino's love when she describes her beauty satirically, the way Orsino does: "I will give/out divers schedules of my beauty. It shall be/inventoried, and every particle and utensil labeled to/my will:- as, item, two lips, indifferent red; item, two/grey eyes, with lids to them; item, one neck, one/chin, and so forth," (1.5.246-251). In fact, Orsino and Olivia don't interact at all in the play until the end, when she announces her marriage to Sebastian who she believes is Cesario. While Olivia and Duke Orsino have no interaction in Twelfth Night, he frequently interacts with Viola/Cesario, which is why they get married in the end.

As Cesario, the duke and Viola get to know and trust each other, and that is why they fall in love. Unlike Olivia, who he barely knew, Orsino got to know Viola/Cesario quite well and favored her immediately, so much so that he poured out his soul to him/her: "Cesario,/Thou knowst no less but all. I have unclasped/To thee the book even of my secret soul," (1.4.12-14). As a result, Viola falls in love with Orsino because she truly got to know him through their close relationship. When the duke sent Viola to woo Olivia for him, Olivia falls in love with Viola's love after her famous willow cabin speech in Act 1 Scene 5. When Viola finally reveals herself at the end of the play, Orsino realizes Viola's true love for him that she hinted at throughout the play: "Boy, thou hast said to me a thousand times/Thou never shouldst love woman like to me," (5.1.283-285).

This close bond that Orsino felt for Cesario turned into love when Viola revealed her true identity and as a result, they got married at the end of Twelfth Night. Even though this play was written over 400 years ago, it is still relevant because the characters are just as human as we are today. Like us, they struggled with understanding love and Twelfth Night should be read because it shows that true love is formed by trust and action, not through a pretty face. For a visual depiction of the relationships between characters found in Twelfth Night, click on this link: [3] . "Viola and the Countess" by Fredrick Richard Pickersgill Understanding Shakespeare How does Shakespeare use the theme of disguise and concealment to dramatic effect in Twelfth Night? - GCSE English - Marked by Teachers.com How does Shakespeare use the theme of disguise and concealment to dramatic effect in Twelfth Night? Extracts from this document... Introduction How does Shakespeare use the theme of disguise and concealment to dramatic effect in 'Twelfth Night'? Disguise and concealment are major features in Twelfth Night. Shakespeare uses these themes as the basis for this play.

Shakespeare has been able to manipulate and use disguise and concealment in whatever way he likes; to usually portray comedy, misunderstanding, affection and also to give information to the audience without the characters knowing. Shakespeare is very clever in the way that he creates certain contrasting dramatic effects such as comedy, tragedy and uneasiness through disguise and concealment. Concealment is used strongly throughout the play. Viola - one of the main characters is the most obvious example of this. At the very start of the play, Viola asks the Sea Captain to change her appearances. 'Conceal me what I am'. The sea captain then helps her to conceal herself and change her entire appearance to that of a man. Viola also needs the male appearance to survive. She is shipwrecked in a strange land, she is a virgin, and only possessing wit and intelligence. She has no male company for safety, only the captain's friendship. ...read more. Middle An example is, as Malvolio reads through the pretend letter, he images himself as Count Malvolio. Malvolio, being a puritan; dislikes Sir Toby's way of life and drunkenness. Sir Toby is often drunk and insults Malvolio.

Malvolio says aloud when reading the letter: 'You must amend your drunkenness' and 'you waste the treasure of your time with the foolish knight'. Malvolio speaks with pride and smugness as he imagines Sir Toby curtsying before him. This concealment is dramatically effective because of its comedy. Such comedy continues with the encouragement of Malvolio dressing in yellow stockings - as Maria explains 'he will come to her in yellow stockings, and 'tis a colour she abhors, and cross- gartered, a fashion sense she detests'. Here is even more dramatic irony as the audience know that Maria wrote the letter, that Olivia hates the colour yellow and that Malvolio believes that the letter is actually written by Olivia herself. Maria, Sir Toby, Sir Andrew and Fabian are all concealing the truth about the letter and this creates comedy. In addition, by the four characters hiding in the box tree; it exposes Malvolio's true intentions - that he does not love Olivia for who she is, but for his personal status and gain. ...read more. Conclusion He sings a song of unfulfilled love, which puts forth the idea of what could happen in another situation.

While the other characters have all been unmasked, Feste's mask can never be discarded due to his role in Olivia's palace as her clown. As Olivia's clown, his job is to be merry and witty on demand for Olivia's personal entertainment. As he resides in Olivia's palace, this fa�ade and persona has to be kept up all the time. As Feste ages, his is scared about losing his job and therefore his true self can never be exposed. Therefore, Feste is the only character in 'Twelfth Night' who does not eventually show something which he is concealing, be that identity or in his case - personality. This makes the last stanza very emotive and meaningful as he unmasks the atmosphere and quotes: 'but that's all one, our play is done.' This helps the audience to return back to reality where everyone is who they say they are - where the sea often kills, mistaken marriages are rarely happy, and where Viola's rarely marry dukes. The theme of disguise and concealment is used to dramatic effect to cause action, plot development, uneasiness, intrigue, misunderstandings, the highlighting of personality flaws, tragedy and comedy. ?? ?? ?? ?? ...read more.

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Question: In which of Shakespeare's plays do the characters 'Viola' and 'Malvolio' appear?
Answer: 'TWELFTH NIGHT'